Windows xp tips and tricks

        WINDOWS XP TIPS & TRICKS


Deleting System Softwares:
XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

Creating Shutdown Icon or One Click Shutdown:

Navigate to your desktop. On the desktop, right-click and go to New, then to Shortcut (in other words, create a new shortcut). You should now see a pop-up window instructing you to enter a command line path.

Use this path in "Type Location of the Item"
SHUTDOWN -s -t 01
If the C: drive is not your local hard drive, then replace "C" with the correct letter of the hard drive. Click the "Next" button. Name the shortcut and click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.


Increasing Band-Width By 20%:
Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc

To get it back:

Click Start then Run and type "gpedit.msc" without quotes.This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy then Computer Configuration then Administrative Templates then Network then QOS Packet Scheduler and then to Limit Reservable Bandwidth.
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.
Renaming The Recycle Bin icon:

To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, click Start then goto Run, write Regedit and press Enter. It opens Registry Editor. Now in Registry Editor go toHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any quotes).
Managing Tasks:
You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.
Removing Shared Documents folder From My Computer window:

Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Once in registry, navigate to key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You must see a  sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this key, you have effectively removed the my shared documents folder.

Making Google the Default Search Engine in Internet Explorer:
Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering  regedit and navigate to following three keys separately and change it as shown below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Search Page"="http://www.google.com"
"Search Bar"="http://www.google.com/ie"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL]
""="http://www.google.com/keyword/%s"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.google.com/ie" .


Improving the Slow Boot up time:

There are a variety of reasons why your windows XP system would boot slowly. Most of the times it this has to do with the startup applications. If you would like to speed up the bootup sequence, consider removing some of the startup applications that you do not need. Easiest way to remove startup apps is through System Configuration Utility. Go to Start then Run and enter MSCONFIG and go to the Startup tab. Deselect/UnCheck application(s) that you do not want to startup at boot time.

Customize Logon prompt with your Own Words:

Open Registry by going to Start then Run, entering regedit and Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]. In right pane, look for key by the name "LogonPrompt". Set its value to whatever text you want to see displayed at login screen.

IP address of your connection:
Go to Start then Run. Enter 'cmd' and then enter 'ipconfig' .Add the '/all' switch for more info.
Making Folders Private:

Open My Computer Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer). If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder. Double-click your user folder. Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties. On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.
To change Drive Letters:

Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click the partition whose name you want to change (click in the white area just below the word "Volume") and select "change drive letter and paths."
From here you can add, remove or change drive letters and paths to the partition.
Removing the Shortcut arrow from Desktop Icons:
Goto Start then Run and Enter regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile. Delete the IsShortcut registry value. You may need to restart Windows XP.
Get Drivers for your Devices:

Visit Windows Update (XP Only)
Look at the left hand pane and under Other Options click Personalize Windows Update.
Now in the right hand pane check the box - Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also
Below Choose which categories and updates to display on Windows Update - make sure you check all the boxes you want shown.
Click Save Settings
Now look in the left hand pane under See Also click Windows Update Catalog and choose what you're looking for. Choose either MS updates or drivers for hardware devices.
Start the Wizard and off you go.
Customize Internet Explorer's Title Bar:
Open Registry by going to Start then Run and Enter regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet. Explorer\Main. In right hand panel look for string "Window Title" and change its value to whatever custom text you want to see.
Disabling the use of Win Key:

If your are a gaming freak then you must be sick of the Win key in your keyboard. To disable use of Win key, open registry by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout] . In this look for value of "Scancode Map". Its binary data so be extra careful:
Set its value to "00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00" to disable the win key.
Restarting Windows without Restarting the Computer:
This one is again is. When you click on the SHUTDOWN button, make sure to simultaneous press SHIFT Button. If you hold the Shift key down while clicking on SHUTDOWN button, you computer would restart without restarting the Computer. This is equivalent to term "HOT REBOOT".
Stopping XP from displaying unread messages count on Welcome Screen:
To stop XP from displaying count of unread messages, Open registry and navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail] and look for the data key "MessageExpiryDays". If you do not see this key, create one DWORD key by the name "MessageExpiryDays". Setting its value to 0 would stop Windows XP from displaying the count of unread messages.
Modify Color Selection of Default Theme:

Open registry by going to Start then Run. Entering regedit, navigate to [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] and locate the key "ColorName".
Right Click on it and select modify its value from "NormalColor" to "Metallic"
Click Ok, and exit regedit and restart your computer.
Removing the Recycle Bin from the Desktop:
If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its desktop icon all together. Run Regedit and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/explorer/Desktop/NameSpace
Click on the "Recycle Bin" string in the right hand pane. Hit Delete, click OK.
Adding Administrative Tools Icon To The Desktop:
Open Registry Editor. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace . Create the following key: {D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153} (just copy/paste, including the brackets). Close Registry Editor. There is no need to reboot. Just wait a few seconds and see how the icon appears.
Creating The Suspend Shortcut:
Right click on the Desktop .New / Shortcut. Enter in rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState . Give it whatever name you want. Now when you click on that shortcut, your computer will shutdown and suspend.
Disable XP Load Screen:

By disabling the load screen you can boost the boot up time by a couple of seconds, if not more. To disable the load screen, open the “msconfig” utility: go to Start>Run, type in “msconfig” without quotes and press Enter. In the subsequent window, select the ‘boot.ini’ tab. Check the /NOGUIBOOT option and press ‘Apply’. Restart Windows to see the effect.

To Remove Arrow Signs From Desktop Shortcuts:

Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Once in registry, navigate to key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\ and rename the string value IsShortcut to AriochIsShortcut.

Make Your Internet Explorer As Fast As FireFox:
Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Once in registry, navigate to key   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings. Right click @ windows right > New > DWORD. type MaxConnectionsPerServer > You can set value (the more higher the no, the more good speed u get, e;g : 99).  Create another DWORD >type MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server. Then put a high value as mentioned above. Restart I.E and you are done.

Disable Disk Performance Counters:
Win XP comes with many inbuilt performance monitoring applications that constantly examine various parts of the system. This information can be of real use to a system administrator for collecting performance statistics. However, for a home user, these statistics hold no value and since the monitoring happens all the time, it consumes a good deal of system resources. “Disk monitoring”, for example, happens in the background, and turning it off is advisable if you will not be using the performance monitoring applications. To turn it off, type in “diskperf -N” at a command prompt. To bring up the command prompt: go to Start>Run, type in “cmd” and press [Enter].
Moving My Documents Folder:

The ‘My Documents’ folder invariably ends up as the default repository of files for most Windows applications. Over a period of time, this folder starts bloating, and this, to a certain extend results in performance degradation. It might be a good idea to move the target location of the ‘My Documents’ folder to some other partition on the hard drive, or to a different drive.
To do so, right click on ‘My Documents’, and on the ‘Target’ tab, click on ‘Move’. In the subsequent dialog box, browse to the drive where you want to move the folder. Then click ‘Make New Folder’ to create a new folder, and name it appropriately. Click ‘Apply’ and then ‘Yes’.
Removing Multiple Boot Screens:


If you are getting unwanted multiple boot screen
Then Follow these Steps.
1> Right Click on My Computer
2>Select Properties
3>Select Advanced Tab
4>Select Settings In the Startup & Recovery Section(3rd grp)
5>Select the operating system which u want.
6>And Click OK.
7>Further again press the setting and click on Edit.
8>It will open boot.ini File.
9>Now u can delete those o/s which you don't want to be displayed.

Note: For deleting operating systems from boot.ini file, keep it mind that you can't
delete that o/s which is selected by default there. Before
making any changes make a copy of boot.ini file.

Enabling Hibernation:
Go to diplay properties>screen savers>power>hibernate. Check 'Enable Hibernation'. Press shift button after you click 'Turn Off  Computer' in start menu.

To Increase the Internet Speed:

Open Notepad and paste the below code in it.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"SackOpts"=dword:00000001
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:0005ae4c
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000003
"DefaultTTL"=dword:00000040
"EnablePMTUBHDetect"=dword:00000000
"EnablePMTUDiscovery"=dword:00000001
"GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:0005ae4c
Now save this file as speed.reg. Execute it and observe the change!

Speed Up Browsing By DNS Cache:

Each time you browse a web site on the internet, the actual site name you type is resolved to an IP address. This translation is effected through what is called the DNS (Domain Name System). This DNS information is stored in your computer so that each time you type a web address , a record of its IP address is stored so that it can be recalled later without having to retrieve it again. One way to speed up your browsing experience is to increase this DNS cache in windows XP. You will need to modify registry for this.
Start notepad & enter the following text into it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es|Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtILimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtILimit"=dword:0000012d
Save this file, naming it dnscache.reg . Double click on the file in windows explorer & merge it into your registry.

Changing Your Dynamic IP Address:

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit okay
4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"
8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until it fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "ok" button here
14. Hit the "ok" button again
15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
18. Hit "ok"
19. Hit "ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address
Using The Mouse Wheel To Control The Font Size:
Try using the Control key with the mouse wheel. This works a zoom function. You do this for Office 2000 applications as well, but in IE it just works on the text, so the page stays somewhat the same.
Saving File Searches:
While on the Desktop or with the Explorer, press F3 to start the search Click Options / Save Results. Do the search. After the search select File / Save Search. An icon will be placed on the desktop with the search results.
Deleting The Index.Dat File:

The INDEX.DAT file keeps a record of all the web sites you have visited.
Normally you can't simply delete this file since it is protected by the operating system.
However, there is a way:
Close all running applications
Open a command window (CMD.EXE)
Go to to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 (where username is the replaced by your current login name)
Start the Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc)
Click on the Processes tab
Select EXPLORER.EXE and click on End Process
The screen will be blank except for the command window
Delete the INDEX.DAT file
Go back to the Task Manager
Do File / Run / Explorer and the desktop will be back
Change Or Add OEM Logo And Information:
By default, the General tab (right-click My Computer, or double-click System in Control Panel) contains information on the Windows version, processor, memory, registered user and registration identity. Optional items include the manufacturer and model, a small picture, and a button leading to a separate page of support information.

The information is not held in the registry, but in an old-style .INI file, which can be created in any plain-text editor including Windows Notepad.

This file can have two sections:
1.The first section, has a section header called [General], and within that section - two entries:
Manufacturer=
Model=
2.The second section, headed [Support Information], is optional, but if present adds a button with that label to the page. The entries after that heading should be in the form:
Line1=
Line2=
Line3=
and so on. The limit on the number and length of lines seems limited only by the 64 KB general limit on .INI files.
The file should be saved in the %systemroot%\system folder (for Windows 98/ME computers) or in %systemroot%\system32 folder (for W2K/XP/2003 computers) as OEMINFO.INI.
The picture is a 256-colour-Windows bitmap (.BMP) file.
Microsoft states that the size should be 96 pixels square when using small fonts in Display Property settings, or 120 square with large fonts.
The file should be saved in the %systemroot%\system folder (for Windows 98/ME computers) or in %systemroot%\system32 folder (for W2K/XP/2003 computers) as OEMLOGO.BMP.
No other entry in the .INI file is required, but the latter must exist and have a populated [General] section for the bitmap to be visible in Display Properties.
No reboot is necessary in order for the hack to take place. Press the ÿ +BREAK keys and see for yourself.
For example, using this OEMINFO.INI file:

[General]
Manufacturer=[YOUR NAME]
Model=[YOUR COMPUTER MODEL]
[Support Information]
Line1=Visit my home page at
Line2=
Line3=http://xyz.com
Line4=
Line5=For hundreds of tips, tricks, knowledge base articles and much more!
Line6=
Line7=You can also contact me by using the following e-mail address:
Line8=
Line9=[YOUR ID]@xyz.COM
Breaking The XP Password:

In case of user password boot the pc in safemode by pressing  the F8 key and then selecting the Safe Mode option. You can now logon as an administrator and XP wont prompt for the password. Incase of an administrator account try rebooting the pc in DOS. access C:\Windows\system32\config\sam . Rename SAM as SAM.mj
Now XP wont ask for password next time You Login. Also
Go to the cmd prompt .
Type net user *.
It will list all the users.
Again type net user "administrator" or the name of the administrator "name" *.
e.g.: net user aaaaaa *(where aaaaaa is the name).
It will ask for the password.
Type the password and there you are done.
Logging In As Administrator:
Hold the Ctrl-Alt key and press Del twice. This will bring up the normal login and you can log on as Administrator.
To unhide the Administrator account so it does show up:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
Unhide the Administrator key by giving it a value of 1
Renaming The Start Button:

To rename the start button, you will need a hex editor.
My preference is UltraEdit
Copy the \windows\explore.exe file to a new name (e.g. explorer_1.exe)
With the hex editor, open that file and go to offset 412b6
You will see the word start with blanks between each letter
Edit it be any 5 characters or less
Save the file
Boot to DOS
Copy the existing c:\windows\explorer.exe to explorer.org
Copy explorer_1.exe to explorer.exe
You will also need to replace the explorer.exe in the c:\windows\system32\dllcache file as well with the new one.
Note: If the partition is NTFS and you can't access the files from DOS:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon.
Change the value of Shell from Explorer.exe to explorer_1.exe
Shutdown Icon Explained:
As in XP Tips Part 1WindowsXP has a program called SHUTDOWN.EXE which allows you to easily create icons to shutdown or restart your computer.
To create a shutdown shortcut on the desktop:
Right click on an open area of the desktop
Select New / Shortcut
Enter in "shutdown -s -t 00" - no quotes
Press the Next button
For the name, enter in anything you like. I just use shutdown. Click on the Finish button.
For a reboot, enter "shutdown -r -t 00"
Shutdown [{-l|-s|-r|-a}] [-f] [-m [\\ComputerName]] [-t xx] [-c "message"] [-d[u][p]:xx:yy]
Parameters:
-l - Logs off the current user, this is also the defualt. -m ComputerName takes precedence.
-s - Shuts down the local computer.
-r - Reboots after shutdown.
-a - Aborts shutdown. Ignores other parameters, except -l and ComputerName. You can only use -a during the time-out period.
-f - Forces running applications to close.
-m [\\ComputerName] - Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.
-t xx - Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.
-c "message" - Specifies a message to be displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. You can use a maximum of 127 characters. You must enclose the message in quotation marks.
Scheduling a Shutdown:

Goto scheduled tasks and start a new schedule, browse shutdown.exe from system32 folder, select time or day to run scheduled task enter administrator password and on next screen check the option for opening advance screen
and then append -s at the end of this line "C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe"
Accessing Stored User Names And Passwords:

Access Stored User Names and Passwords with rundll32.exe in Windows XP
1. Click on START - RUN Type  rundll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr
2. Press Enter
Add Desired Test To Time Area:

1.Open control panel
2.Double click on Regional and Language Option
3.Under Regional Option TAB. Click Customize
4.Click the time TAB
5.Change THE "AM" symbol to desired TEXT.
6.Change THE "PM" symbol to desired TEXT.
Hiding Your Computer In a Workgroup:
These settings will permanently hiding your computer from a workgroup:
Open registry, START --> RUN --> Type 'Regedit'
Double click on 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'
Double click on 'SYSTEM'
Double click on 'CurrentControlSet'
Double click on 'Services'
Double click on 'LanmanServer'
Single click on 'Parameters'
On the right panel, Create a new DWORD
value, or modify the existing value, named "Hidden" and set it to "1". (Without Quots)
Close the Registry, then restart your
computer.
To Disable Right-Click On Desktop:

Goto Start> RUN and Enter REGEDIT. Browse the following key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Sofware\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
Create a new DWORD (edit ;new ; dwordvalue ;). With a value=1 ( Rightclick on the newly created DWORD and click on modify then change its value to 1)
Restart Your Computer and you are done.
Disabling Unnecessary Programs At Startup:
Many programs add portions of themselves starting automatically on every login.This can be either in the Startup Folder or the Registry. One easy way to tell is by looking at how many icons are in your system tray. If you have a large number, perhaps unnecessary resources are being allocated them as well as increasing your boot time. Typical examples are Microsoft Office, Office FindFast, Real Player, ATI Video setting etc. You can remove them in one of three main ways:

In the Start / Programs / Startup Folder
In the Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
To convert a FAT partition to NTFS:

Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.
NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).

Make Windows XP work the way you want it to !
These tips work with the final release of Windows XP. Unless otherwise noted, all tips should work with both Home and Professional Editions. Please note that some of these tips may require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights.
.
Delete files when the Recycle Bin is hidden
I actually discovered this tip accidentally recently and thought it was appropriate for the Tips page, even though it's probably been a feature of Windows for years. (UPDATE: Sure enough, it's been around for a while. It's still a cool tip and proof that one learns something every day).
By default, the Windows XP Recycle Bin sits at the bottom right of the desktop, just above the tray notification area and system clock. If you've got a bunch of floating windows open, however, it's possible to obscure the Recycle Bin and make it impossible to drag files and folders there for deletion. However, Microsoft must have thought of this event, because you can automatically hide all of those open windows during a drag operation. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke. But it's not. Instead, it's a cool hidden feature of XP.
Here's how it works: Make sure a bunch of windows are open on the screen, with at least one of them hiding the Recycle Bin. Then, find a file or group of files you'd like to drag to the Recycle Bin. Pick up the files with the mouse and move them to the lower right of the screen. As you reach the bottom area of the screen, pass the mouse cursor over a blank area of the task bar, hover there for an instant, and--voila!--the open windows all minimize, leaving the Recycle Bin available to accept the dragged files. Good stuff. This tip also works when windows are maximized, assuming the file(s) you want to delete are visible in one of the available windows.

Add album art to any music folder This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
UPDATE: In addition to the folder.jpg file mentioned above, you can also optionally create a smaller version of the image called albumartsmall.jpg, if desired. This is the image used to display album art in MPXP when its sized so that the display area is smaller than 200 x 200 pixels, and in the folder thumbnails for folders that contain album folders. If you don't create albumartsmall.jpg, however, Windows XP will automatically scale folder.jpg in these cases.

Automatically defrag drives with a new context menu item!
Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad (be sure to save with it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text inside:
; context_defrag.INF

; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP

[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"

[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe

[AddMe]

HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"
Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives, using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's complete, the window just disappears.
UPDATE: To remove this functionality, Open regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\
Then delete the Defrag folder and close Regedit.


Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
I first mentioned this technique in an old Technology Showcase for Windows 2000, but it still works in Windows XP, and can be quite useful: For some reason, Microsoft has removed the ability to specify which Windows components you want to install during interactive Setup, and when you go into Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel, you still don't have the full list of applications and applets you can add and remove. Thankfully, this is easy to fix.
To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition, this file will resemble the following by default:
[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$" DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0

[Components] NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4 WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7 Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7 Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7 NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7 iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7 com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7 dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7 IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7 TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2 msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6 ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7 fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7 AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7 msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7 smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7 RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7 Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7 AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7 CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7 MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7 AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7 Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7 MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7 ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global] WindowTitle=%WindowTitle% WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"
The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.

Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer

One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the shell: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders
You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.
You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.
Display the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties In Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder was simple: Just right-click, choose Properties, and you'd see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is missing by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing tab if desired. Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, then Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey Mouse feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders on the LAN as you would in Windows 2000.

Use the ultimate configuration tool (Professional Edition only)
One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!
Use the Windows Sound Scheme Windows XP ships with a really nice new sound scheme, but it's not loaded by default for some reason. So once you've installed Windows XP, one of the first things you should do is get that new sound scheme loaded.
To do so, open up Control Panel and navigate to Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices. Then, choose the task titled Change the sound scheme. In the dialog that appears, choose Windows Default for the sound scheme. Windows will ask you whether you want to save the previous scheme, which is usually a brain-dead questions, since no scheme was previously loaded. So choose No, and then click OK to exit the dialog.

Rip high-quality MP3s in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP)
The relationship between Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, MPXP is able to playback MP3 files out of the box, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft supplied a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it was limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless, leading some to report that Microsoft was purposefully hobbling MP3 to make its Windows Media Audio (WMA) format look better. This is not the case.
To enable MP3 encoding in Windows XP, you'll need to to purchase one of three MP3 Creation Add-on packs for Windows XP. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Web site.
Speed up the Start Menu

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.
If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.

Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.

But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:
(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)
Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.

Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger, you can use the tip "Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP" above to remove it, or simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS

Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog

For some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Remove windows messenger from Win XP one forever
Go to Run box and type next:
runDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf, BLC.Remove
Disable XP Error Reporting
Right click on MyComputer choose Properties
In System Properties click on Advenced
In Advenced click on Error Reporting
Check "Disable error reporting"
Leave unchecked field "But notify me when critical errors occur"
Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
Create Your Own Logon Message
Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain. For stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks, the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.
Disable balloon tips
Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Explorer\Advanced
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.
Create your own popup menu in the taskbar
You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in the taskbar.
Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder.
Then you right click on taskbar ->toolbars ->new toolbar -> and select the folder
Reset Your Password On XP
1. Restart you computer
2. When booting, press F8 and select "Safe Mode"
3. After getting to the user menu. Click on a user and this time it will not ask you for a password
4. Go to Start>Run and type "CMD" (without the quotes).
5. At command prompt type in "cd C:WindowsSystem32" (without the quotes), I am assuming C is your System/Windows Drive
6.For safety purposes first make a backup of your Logon.Scr file.. You can do this by typing in "Copy to Logon.scr to Logon.bak" (without the quotes)
7.Then type "copy CMD.EXE Logon.scr"(without the quotes)
8.Then type this command, I will assume that you want to set Administrator's password to "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
9.Now, type this in (I am assuming that you are still in the directory C:WindowsSystem32) , "net user administrator MyNewPass" without the quotes
10. You will get a message saying that it was successful, this means Administrator's new password is "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
11. Restart the PC and you will login as Administrator (or whatever you chose to reset) with your chosen password
Cool Create your own Internet Explorer Toolbar
First, create your HTML file and place it in whatever folder is easiest for you to remember. ( I have a folder on my D drive called Desktop Toolbars. )
Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs
Create a new String Value with an easy to remember name.
Ex: TopToolbar ,BottomToolbar ,GoogleSearchPage
In the data for the new string value you've created, put the COMPLETE address for the HTML page you want to display in a toolbar.
Like this: D:\Desktop_Toolbars\TopBar.html
To show your new toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose "Toolbars" > New Toolbar.
In the box labeled Folder:, type about: with the name of the string value you created that represents the HTML file you want to see in your toolbar.
Like this:
about:TopBar
will display your D:\Desktop_Toolbars\TopBar.html in your taskbar.
about:BottomBar
about:GoogleSearchPage
Shutting down WinXP faster
When a user shuts down Windows XP, first the system has to kill all services currently running. Every once in a while the service does not shut down instantly and windows give it a change to shut down on its own before it kills it. This amount of time that windows wait is stored in the system registry. If you modify this setting, then windows will kill the service earlier. To modify the setting, follow the directions below:
Click on Start, and then goto run, type REGEDIT
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify. Set it a value lower than 4000
You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password.
Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.
Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword :00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001
Turn off Auto Updates
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
Turn off the SP2 firewall
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFire wall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFire wall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
Disable unnecessary Services
Caution:
Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.
Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it. However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab. This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.
Tip:
The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore.
While disabling services, check and make sure that IIS (internet information server) is not installed and running if you do not want to run a web server, ftp, or mail server. If you find it, you can uninstall from the control panel. If you only want to run one of the 3 services it provides, disable the other 2 (the 3 should be HTTP server, FTP server, & SMTP server).
Hide Drive
This works with all Windows 95/98/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 releases.
To prevent a drive or any combination of drives from appearing in My Computer, Windows Explorer and/or Internet Explorer, for security purposes in a multiuser environment, if you own the computer or have Administrator privileges, add/modify the "NoDrives" (don't type the quotation marks) Binary [REG_BINARY] hex or DWORD [REG_DWORD] value under this Registry key, using Regedit:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mic*ft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Give it a value from the list below to hide the individual drive(s) of your choice (don't type the spaces for Binary):
Drive Letter Binary Value DWORD Value
A 01 00 00 00 00000001
B 02 00 00 00 00000002
C 04 00 00 00 00000004
D 08 00 00 00 00000008
E 10 00 00 00 00000010
F 20 00 00 00 00000020
G 40 00 00 00 00000040
H 80 00 00 00 00000080
I 00 01 00 00 00000100
J 00 02 00 00 00000200
K 00 04 00 00 00000400
L 00 08 00 00 00000800
M 00 10 00 00 00001000
N 00 20 00 00 00002000
O 00 40 00 00 00004000
P 00 80 00 00 00008000
Q 00 00 01 00 00010000
R 00 00 02 00 00020000
S 00 00 04 00 00040000
T 00 00 08 00 00080000
U 00 00 10 00 00100000
V 00 00 20 00 00200000
W 00 00 40 00 00400000
X 00 00 80 00 00800000
Y 00 00 00 01 01000000
Z 00 00 00 02 02000000
Example: to hide drives D, E, Y and Z give "NoDrives" this Binary value:
18 00 00 03
Where: D + E = 18 and Y + Z = 03 (cumulative values).
NOTE: These numbers are in HEXadecimal. Example: to hide drives A, B, C and D, use 0F, NOT 15, when cumulating multiple drives.
Show all drives (A to Z) "NoDrives" Binary value:
00 00 00 00
Hide all drives (A to Z) "NoDrives" Binary value:
ff ff ff 03
You can also do this by using TweakUI, one of the Mic*ft Power Toys for Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME + MS IE 4/5/6 [110 KB, free, unsupported].
Use TweakUI with caution, ONLY AFTER BACKING UP YOUR REGISTRY!
Open Control Panel -> TweakUI -> My Computer tab -> check to show or uncheck to hide the desired drive boxes -> click OK/Apply.
Windows default is to show ALL local and remote (network) drives: A to Z.
More info:
All these settings apply also to the "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" Binary [hex] value, to enable/disable the AutoRun feature on selected drives (useful for disabling AutoRun on CD/DVD drives), and found also at:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mic*ft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
More info.
"SYSTEM RESTRICTIONS", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], explains how to enable more Windows security features.
MSKB.
MSKB.
MSKB.
MSKB.
MS TechNet.
MS TechNet.
Lock folder in winxp also without any software
1.Suppose you have a folder named abcd in D:\abcd.
2.In the same drive next to the folder create a new notepad file with the exact statement
    ren abcd abcd.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
3.Now save this text file as loc.bat
4.Create another notepad file and type
    ren abcd.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} abcd
5.Save this as key.bat
6. Now there are two batch files . Double click loc.bat and your folder will change into Control Panel and its                           contents cannot be viewed .
7.To open the folder double click key.bat and you get back your original folder .
8.For more safety keep the key.bat in another location .Only for unlocking copy paste to the original location and double click
Making undeletable, unreadable folders
By holding down alt, then typing numbers on the number pad (right of the keyboard) you can create special characters. If you hold down alt, then press 1, then let go, you got the ascii character 1. You try some randomn numbers. This goes all the way up to 255. Open a dos prompt, and type md (alt+1+9+4)someword. md is the dos command to make a directoy, now try and open the directory in Windows, you can't. To open it, type ren (alt+1+9+4)someword someword (ren is the doscommand to rename).
 Thanks and Regards
Dhanas